


followed a dream and a strange desire

by flooded_in_the_sky



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Jack has a dog, M/M, david hates his job, paperman au!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 12:47:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14189280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flooded_in_the_sky/pseuds/flooded_in_the_sky
Summary: hey! this lil one-shot is based off the disney short film paperman, because it's one of my favorite things at the moment, and i haven't written anything in a while, so i figured i'd give this a whirl! the title's a lyric from the song 'you're still a mystery' by the bleachers. hope you enjoy!





	followed a dream and a strange desire

The train platform was strangely empty as David Jacobs stood, patiently waiting for the 9:00 train. There were usually a few more people, but today he was alone. He supposed it wasn’t terrible, being alone, but that soon left his thoughts as the wind pulled at a paper from his folder. He quickly stuffed it back in, and pushed the hair out of his eyes. Not two minutes later, the wind sent another paper flying, but it wasn’t David’s. It belonged to the man currently running down the platform, trying to catch it. His bag was splattered with paint, as were his shoes, and he nearly tripped over his laces as he kept running. David tried to help catch the loose paper, but only managed to run into the other man.  
“Jesus, I’m sorry,” he said, helping David up.

“Nothing to be sorry for. You okay?”

“Yeah, just gotta track down that drawing.” He turned around to see it fluttering in the breeze underneath a bench. David watched as he rushed to grab it, dropping another drawing in the process.

“You dropped another one!” David called into the wind, but the man either ignored him or didn’t hear, continuing down the platform. Just then, the 9:00 train pulled in, and David quickly grabbed the second drawing before running onto the train and sitting down. 

“That could’ve gone better,” he muttered, putting in earbuds and pressing the shuffle button on his latest playlist. 

 

David hated his job. A boring desk job was the last option he would have chosen, but that’s what he was stuck with. The work was menial at best, and downright dull at worst. Normally, he would’ve been muddling through the paperwork fast enough to earn himself a paycheck. But not today. Not today, because today he’d met somebody interesting. David couldn’t help that his thoughts kept trailing back to the man from the train platform. The artist who really needed to get himself organized. The guy David couldn’t stop thinking about for some dumb reason. He jumped as his boss, a grumpy old man called Weisel, dropped a stack of files at his desk.

“I want these finished and in my hands by the end of the day.” He walked back into his office and sat down, probably to do more of whatever he was always doing. Definitely not work. David sighed, and picked up the first file, setting the rest gingerly to the side. Underneath was the drawing that the man from the train had left. He picked it up and set it aside, away from the open window so as not to lose it. David stared out at the busy street below him, slowly dragging his gaze up the building across the street, stopping at a window that was also open.

“It can’t be,” David muttered to himself, squinting at the window. “There’s no way.” But he saw the same paint-splattered bag from just a short time before. It was the guy from the platform. David jumped up from his seat, waving from the open window. He didn’t say anything for fear of Weisel coming back out and yelling at him, but he had to get the other man’s attention. David’s eyes flicked back to the open file in front of him. He took a page off the top and folded it into a paper airplane. 

“This is ridiculous,” he muttered to himself. But it was the only idea he had. David took his aim and threw the plane across the street, and watched as it fell down towards the sidewalk. He glanced at the open folder on his desk, and the stack he’d pushed to the edge, and then at Weisel’s office. 

“This is the dumbest idea I’ve ever had.” David picked up another piece of paper and folded it into a paper plane.

 

David had been trying to get Platform Guy’s attention for nearly an hour and a half. He’d thrown planes that had been hit by birds, landed in other open windows, and he was sure one of them had landed in the wastebasket in the room across the street. But none of them had gotten the attention of the man in the other window. David felt for another piece of paper, but only knocked over a stack of empty folders. He looked up, hoping nobody had noticed the mess. Only a nearby coworker had seen, and she pulled her stack a bit closer to her before going back to work. David ran his hands through his hair before remembering he still had one more shot: the drawing. Quickly, he scooped up the folders and found it in the mix. Keeping an eye on Weisel’s office door, he folded one last plane before standing up and peering out the window.

“Do I really want to do this?” David asked himself, taking a breath. This was his only link to Platform Guy, and he was about literally throw it out the window. But before he could decide against it, the wind whisked it from his light grip and out into the street below. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Platform Guy was leaving the room in the other building.

“No!” David slammed his fist on the windowsill, and whirled around when he heard somebody clear their throat. 

“Ah, Mr. Weisel. Sorry about that.”

“Jacobs, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but you’d better sit down and get these done, or you’re going to be out of a job.” Weisel dropped the same stack on his desk and walked away, slamming the door behind him. David’s gaze followed him until he was sure his boss wasn’t coming back out anytime soon. Then, he jumped up, grabbed his coat and his phone, and ran out of the office, knocking over the files on his desk in the process. David didn’t particularly care about this job in the first place, so maybe he could still catch up to Platform Guy. Just maybe. 

 

A few minutes later, David rushed out the front doors to find there was no sign of him. There were, however, a few scattered paper airplanes, and David felt his stomach sink a bit. As he crossed the street, he saw one perched on top of a mailbox. It was the drawing. David picked it up and looked at it again, before throwing it further down the sidewalk and walking in the opposite direction. But a few moments later, it showed up again. And again, he threw it behind him, watching it sail away before turning back around and continuing to walk. But it showed up a third time, on a bench just outside train station. 

“This is ridiculous,” David muttered, but he picked up the plane and didn’t throw it again. Some things weren’t meant to stay lost, he supposed. The gust from the air conditioning tugged it from his light grip and threw it into one of the train cars, and David ran to catch it, only realizing he had no idea where he was going once the doors slid shut. 

“Well, this might as well happen.” David decided he’d get off at the next stop and go home from there. He put in his earbuds and unfolded the plane. He’d looked at the drawing before, but looking at it now felt like he was seeing it for the first time. The whole piece was in greyscale, aside from the sky, which was a light blue. The buildings were incredibly detailed, down to the windows and the small people walking in front of them. And in the corner was a sloppy, yet readable signature.  _ Jack Kelly. _ Platform Guy had a name. David looked up as the doors opened and people flooded out. He stood up, dashing out just as the doors slid shut. Around him, the platform was mostly empty, except for a few people. One woman was talking on her phone in rapid Spanish, and a street performer filled the air with the sound of drums. And there, on the other end of the platform, was Jack Kelly.

“Hey!” David yelled as he ran down. Jack did a double take as David slowed down, holding the drawing with a steel grip so he wouldn’t lose it again. “I found this this morning, and I meant to give it back, but when I looked up you were gone.”

“I didn’t even know it was gone,” Jack said as David handed over the piece. “Thanks for hanging on to it.”

“No trouble. You’re really good,” David said. 

“I’m Jack.”

“David.” They shook hands, and Jack looked like he was thinking for a moment. Suddenly he pulled out a pencil from his bag, and scribbled something on the bag of the drawing before handing it back to David.

“This is mine. Call me sometime, yeah?” Jack said as a train pulled into the station. He disappeared into the crowd getting off.

“Yeah.”

 

_ three months later _

 

“I’ve got news.”

“And what would that be?” Jack asked. David heard barking in the background, and he laughed to himself before saying, “I got the job.”

“Seriously?”  
“Seriously.”

“Oh, my God! That’s amazing! Chewie, sit still for five minutes, jeez.”

“It’s not much, but it’s definitely better than what I had before.”

“Good! Jobs that make you happy are infinitely better than jobs that don’t!” Jack replied, and David heard him say something else that he couldn’t catch.

“What?”  
“Just yelling at Chewie.”

“I thought your painting corner was supposed to be dog-free?” 

“Not wookie-free, apparently,” came Jack’s reply, and David laughed. “So I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” David said, and it was true. “See you.”

“See you.” The tone sounded, and David slid his phone back in his pocket, still grinning. He finally had a decent job, and he finally had a boyfriend. For the first time in what felt like forever, David felt content. 

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you liked this! this was tricky to write at first, but i like the way it turned out. here's my tumblr in case you want to drop by!


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